Printer and ic chip communication apparatus

ABSTRACT

By rotating an antenna movable screw, an antenna fixing plate is vertically moved through the screw action, whereby the position of the antenna is changed. With this mechanism, the distance between the antenna and a transported label sheet can be adjusted according to a type of a label sheet (RF tag), whereby information can correctly be written to a tag corresponding to the type of various label sheets (RF tags).

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/884,630, filed Oct. 9, 2007, which is a U.S. National PhaseApplication under 35 U.S.C. 371 of International ApplicationPCT/JP2006/303965, filed Mar. 2, 2006, which claims priority to JapanesePatent Application JP-2005-059103, filed Mar. 3, 2005.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a printer and an IC tag reading/writingapparatus that performs printing on a sheet or writes information to anIC tag serving as an IC chip and provided on this sheet.

BACKGROUND ART

There has been known a label printer that performs printing on a labelsheet, which is wound around a roll-type continuous sheet and isprovided with an IC tag, and that writes information to the IC tag ofthis label sheet. The IC tag provided on the label sheet, which is thesubject in the label printer, is generally an RF (Radio Frequency) tag,wherein information is wirelessly written and read. In order towirelessly write and read data to and from the RF tag, an antenna isnecessary to the label sheet provided with the RF tag and thereader/writer of the RF tag.

Patent Reference 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No.2001-331768

When information is written to the RF tag, there arises a problem thatthe information cannot be written well depending upon the difference inthe frequency or the shape of the antenna, even if the position of theantenna in the label sheet and the position of the antenna of thereader/writer are the same.

There is another problem that, if the length of the label sheet on thecontinuous sheet formed into a roll is short, the space between the RFtag on the label sheet and the RF tag provided on the adjacent labelsheet becomes narrow. Specifically, data might be written on the RF tagon the label sheet that is not the target one, so that there is aproblem that the type of the usable label sheet with the RF tag isnaturally limited.

In view of this, an object of the present invention is to provide alabel printer, which performs printing to a label sheet provided with anIC tag and writes data to the IC tag, and which can cope with varioustypes of label sheets.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

A label printer according to the present invention includes a print headthat performs printing to a sheet provided with an IC chip; atransporting device that transports the sheet on a transporting path; anantenna that mediates data communication with the IC chip provided onthe sheet transported on the transporting path; and a mechanism foradjusting a distance between the antenna and the transporting path.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal side view schematically showing a structure ofa label printer according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a roll-type continuous sheet to which labelsheets are attached.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a roll-type continuous sheet to which labelsheets are attached, and which is transported to the position of athermal head and a platen roller.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of a portion of an antenna unitin the label printer.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the same portion.

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of the same portion.

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of each section of an RF tagreader/writer.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

One embodiment of the present invention will be explained with referenceto FIGS. 1 to 7.

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal side view schematically showing a structure ofa label printer 101. As shown in FIG. 1, arranged in the label printer101 are a pair of transport rollers 104 a, 104 b that serve as atransporting device for drawing a label sheet, which is wound in a rollfashion, from the rolled state so as to transport the label sheet 102 ona sheet transporting path 103, a platen roller 105, an ink ribbon 106, athermal head 107 that is arranged so as to oppose to the platen roller105 and prints predetermined items on the label sheet 102 with the useof the ink ribbon 106, etc. The thermal head 107 includes manyresistance heat-generating members (not shown) arranged in a line. Theink ribbon 106 is inserted between the thermal head 107 and the labelsheet 102. The thermal head 107 is in pressed contact with the platenroller 107, whereby the ink (not shown) on the ink ribbon 106 istransferred onto the label sheet 102 by the heat of the thermal head107.

On the label printer 101, an RF tag reader/writer (not shown) is mountedthat writes or reads information to or from RF (Radio Frequency) tags 6a and 7 a (FIG. 2) provided on the label sheet 102 as an IC chip. The RFtag reader/writer is provided to an antenna unit 121 (FIG. 4), andconnected to an antenna 1 that transmits and receives electric wave tothe tags 6 a and 7 a (FIG. 2). The antenna unit 121 described above isarranged in the vicinity of the upstream side of the thermal head 107 inthe transporting direction of the label sheet 102 and at the downstreamside with respect to the transport roller 104.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the label sheet 102, and FIG. 3 is a plan viewshowing a positional relationship of the label sheet 102 that istransported to the thermal head 107 and the platen roller 105 by thetransport rollers 104 a, 104 b. FIG. 2( a) and FIG. 2( b) respectivelyillustrate a label sheet 102 having a different size, wherein labelsheets 102 a and 102 b are formed at regular intervals on continuoussheets 6 and 7 wound in a rolled fashion. Numerals 6 a and 7 a are RFtags formed on the label sheets 102 a and 102 b respectively.

Subsequently, the antenna unit 121 will be explained. FIG. 4 is alongitudinal sectional view of the antenna unit 121, FIG. 5 is aperspective view showing a portion of the antenna unit 121, and FIG. 6is a longitudinal sectional view of the same portion.

A mechanism for adjusting the distance between the antenna 1 provided tothe antenna unit 121 and the sheet transporting path 103 will beexplained. The antenna 1 has a structure in which a support plate 1 asupports a coil (not shown). The support plate 1 a of the antenna 1 isarranged below (at the side of the platen) the label sheet 102 that isguided and transported on the sheet transporting path 103, and formedlong in the widthwise direction of the label sheet 102. The mechanismfor adjusting the distance provided to the antenna unit 121 is composedof a mechanism for elevating the support plate 1 a of the antenna 1.Specifically, antenna fixing plates 2 are fixed to both ends of thesupport plate 1 a. The antenna fixing plates 2 are configured such thattwo plates are opposite to each other with a gap capable of sandwichingthe support plate 1 a of the antenna 1, and have a slit shape in whichthe side opposite to the side of sandwiching the support plate 1 a isclosed. Since the antenna fixing plates 2 having the slit shape holdboth ends of the support plate 1 a in the widthwise direction of thelabel sheet 102, the antenna fixing plates 2 are fixed to the supportplate 1 a. The antenna unit 121 has a frame 5 that forms a space 5 cbetween an upper member 5 a and a lower member 5 b. Further, an opening5 d is formed on the upper member 5 a and the lower member 5 b of theframe 5 as shown in FIG. 7. A rising member 5 e that is formed bybending a metal plate from the lower member 5 b and serves as a secondshielding member is formed at the frame 5 at the side of the platen.This rising member 5 e is provided in order to prevent data from beingwritten again after the printing onto the label sheet on which data hasalready been written.

A pair of movable screws 3 is attached to the frame 5 so as to rotateabout the axis of the movable screw 3, and the support plate 1 a of theantenna 1 is attached to the movable screws 3. Specifically, a pair ofscrew holes 1 b is formed to the support plate 1 a of the antenna 1 andthe antenna fixing plates 2, and the movable screws 3 are screwed to thescrew holes 1 b. The movable screw 3 is rotatably provided to the frame5 in such a manner that the movable screw 3 penetrates the lower member5 b of the frame 5 from below, and is prevented by a screw come-offpreventing member 3 a from coming off, and the leading end thereof isfitted to a boss 4 a provided at the upper member 5 a of the frame 5. AnE-ring that can detachably be provided to the movable screw 3 isemployed as the screw come-off preventing member 3 a, for example.Therefore, in the example of the mechanism for adjusting the distance,by rotating the movable screws 3, the position of the antenna fixingplates 2 can be vertically moved by the screw action. Specifically,since the position of the antenna 1 changes to the sheet transportingpath 103, the distance between the antenna 1 and the label sheet 102 canbe changed.

With this mechanism, the distance between the antenna 1 and the labelsheet 102 a (or 102 b), which is drawn from the rolled state andtransported, can be adjusted depending upon the type of the label sheets102 a and 102 b (tags 6 a and 7 a). For example, even if the frequencyband of RFID is UHF band, 902 to 928 MHz can be used in the UnitedStates, and 866 to 870 MHz can be used in Europe. In other words, theusable frequency band is different. Therefore, when the antenna 1 isattached to the position where data is always correctly written in thefrequency of one district, the data might not correctly be written whenthe data is written to the tag having a frequency according to the otherdistrict. The frequency in which the data cannot be written isunallowable degree as an actual product. However, according to oneembodiment for solving this problem, information can correctly bewritten to the tags 6 a and 7 a corresponding to various types of thelabel sheets 102 a and 102 b (tags 6 a and 7 a).

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of each section of the antennaunit 121. In this antenna unit 121, either one of partitioning plates 8and 9 formed of a sheet metal is provided at the middle position betweenthe antenna 1 and the boss 4 a. The partitioning plates 8 and 9 areformed with rectangular through-holes 8 a and 9 a at the centralportion, respectively. The through-holes 8 a and 9 a are different fromeach other in size. The partitioning plates 8 and 9 are provided betweenthe antenna 1 and the label sheet 102 a or 102 b that is drawn out fromthe rolled state to be transported on the sheet transporting path 103,and serves as a shielding member that blocks electric wave transmittedfrom the antenna 1 from reaching the position other than the targetdirection so as to limit the range of writing the information to thetags 6 a and 7 a by the antenna 1.

Specifically, only the electric wave passing through the through-holes 8a and 9 a contributes to the writing of the information of the tags 6 aand 7 a, so that there is no chance that the information is written toanother label sheet 102 a or 102 b.

The partitioning plate 8 or 9 is selected depending upon which one ofthe label sheet 102 a and the label sheet 102 b is used, whereby thenarrow through-hole 8 a or wide through-hole 9 a can be selected, andhence, optimum information writing can be performed according to thetype of the label sheet 102.

In one embodiment described above, the antenna fixing plates 2 are movedvertically by the screw action by rotating the antenna movable screws 3,as the structure for changing the position of the antenna 1. However,the antenna movable screws 3 may not be used, and a detachable structurefor screwing the antenna fixing plates 2 for fixation at pluralpositions including the position relatively close to the transportedlabel sheet 102 and the position relatively far from the transportedlabel sheet 102 may be provided, whereby the antenna 1 is fixed to theposition relatively close to the transported label sheet or the positionrelatively far from the transported label sheet 102.

In the case of the aforesaid UHF band, the antenna 1 is attached closeto the lower member 5 b in the product for the United States, while theantenna 1 is attached close to the upper member 5 a in the product forEurope. The optimum space between the attachment position of the antenna1 in the product for the United States and the attachment position ofthe antenna 1 in the product for Europe is about 5 mm. Specifically, theantenna 1 is attached to the close position generally in contact withthe sheet transporting path 103 in the product for Europe, while theantenna 1 is attached to the position apart from the sheet transportingpath 103 by about 5 mm in the product for the United States.

The shape of the antenna 1 is not specifically described in the presentapplication, but the shape of the antenna 1 varies since the frequencyto be handled is different. Therefore, in the present embodiment, theattachment position of the antenna 1 is determined according to theshape of the antenna 1. Specifically, since there are plural shapes ofthe antennas 1, the attachment position is determined according to therespective antennas 1, whereby the antenna 1 can easily be attached tothe optimum attachment position.

1. A printer comprising: a print head that performs printing to a sheetprovided with an IC chip; a transporting device that transports thesheet on a transporting path; an antenna that comprises an antenna mainportion and a support plate supporting the antenna main portion, andprovides data communication with the IC chip provided on the sheettransported on the transporting path; and a mechanism that comprises anantenna fixing plate and a movable screw, and adjusts a distance betweenthe antenna and the transporting path, the antenna fixing plate beingfixed to the support plate and comprising a screw hole, the movablescrew being screwed to the screw hole so as to be rotated about an axisof the movable screw and to vertically move the antenna fixing plate. 2.The printer according to claim 1, wherein the support plate also has thescrew hole, and the movable screw is screwed to the screw hole of boththe antenna fixing plate and the support plate.
 3. The printer accordingto claim 1, further comprising: a plurality of first shielding membersthat are detachably provided between the antenna and the transportingpath, each of the shielding members having a different sizedthrough-hole through which an electric wave transmitted from the antennapasses, wherein each of the first shielding members shields the electricwave transmitted from the antenna, to limit the data communication rangeof the antenna to the IC chip.
 4. The printer according to claim 1,further comprising: a plurality of first shielding members that aredetachably provided between the antenna and the transporting path, eachof the shielding members having a different sized through-hole throughwhich an electric wave transmitted from the antenna passes; and a secondshielding member that is provided between the antenna and a position ata downstream side of the transporting path with respect to the antenna,to shield the electric wave transmitted from the antenna.
 5. The printeraccording to claim 4, further comprising a metallic frame that includes:an upper member, which has an opening through which the electric wavefrom the antenna passes and forms a part of the transporting path; and alower member, which is positioned below the upper member via a spaceinto which the antenna is positioned, the metallic frame being arrangedat an upstream side of the transporting path with respect to the printhead, wherein: the second shielding member is made of a part of theframe.
 6. The printer according to claim 5, wherein the lower member hasan opening at a position facing the antenna.
 7. The printer according toclaim 1, wherein the print head is a line-type thermal head that is incontact with a platen roller via the transporting path.
 8. The printeraccording to claim 7, wherein the thermal head is arranged at adownstream side of the transporting path with respect to the antenna. 9.The printer according to claim 7, wherein: the transporting device has apair of transport rollers that are in contact with each other via thetransporting path at an upstream side of the transporting path withrespect to the platen roller, at least one of the pair of transportrollers being rotatably driven; and the antenna is arranged between thetransport roller and the platen roller.
 10. The printer according toclaim 1, wherein the sheet is a label sheet comprising a plurality oflabels and wound in a rolled fashion.
 11. An IC chip communicationapparatus comprising: an antenna that comprises an antenna main portionand a support plate supporting the antenna main portion, and providesdata communication with an IC chip provided on a sheet; a transportingdevice that guides and transports the sheet on a transporting path tothe position where the antenna provides the data communication with theIC chip; a mechanism that comprises an antenna fixing plate and amovable screw, and adjusts a distance between the antenna and thetransporting path, the antenna fixing plate being fixed to the supportplate and comprising a screw hole, the movable screw being screwed tothe screw hole so as to be rotated about an axis of the movable screwand to vertically move the antenna fixing plate.
 12. The printeraccording to claim 3, further comprising a metallic frame that includes:an upper member, which has an opening through which the electric wavefrom the antenna passes and forms a part of the transporting path; and alower member, which is positioned below the upper member via a spaceinto which the antenna is positioned, the metallic frame being arrangedat an upstream side of the transporting path with respect to the printhead, wherein: each of the first shielding members is made of a metalplate that is detachably provided with the upper member.
 13. The printeraccording to claim 12, wherein the lower member has an opening at theposition facing the antenna.